The present invention relates generally to a microwave coffee maker and more particularly to a device for quickly brewing individual servings of coffee. Various devices for brewing coffee in microwave ovens are known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,589,272 to Bouladon; 4,104,957 to Freedman et al.; 4,381,696 to Koral; 4,386,109 to Bowen et al.; and, 4,642,443 to Jorgensen et al., each disclose an appliance for brewing coffee or the like in a microwave oven. Each of these appliances, however, is generally directed to brewing large volumes of coffee, and are not convenient for quickly brewing individual servings or small quantities. U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,835 to Welker discloses a single serving microwave brewing cup. The disclosed device is basically comprised of a cup for receiving water and coffee particles and a lid or cover having filtering openings therein. The Welker patent basically discloses a so-called "pot method" method of making coffee in which water and coffee grounds are heated together. With respect to the disclosed device, the coffee and water are placed within the cup and are heated by microwaves. The brewed beverage is poured from the cup through the filtering openings in the cover, the coffee particles being retained in the cup by such filtering openings. While such device is capable of quickly brewing coffee in a microwave oven, several variables affect the strength and flavor of the resultant brewed coffee. More specifically, while the amount of ground coffee and water used within the device will clearly affect the flavor and strength of the brewed coffee, so too will the temperature of the water and the period of time the coffee particles remain immerged in the heated water. In this respect, the device disclosed in the Welker patent provides no inherent means for controlling the brewing time of the coffee once the water has reached a brewing temperature.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems and provides a microwave device for brewing a single serving of coffee or the like wherein the brewed beverage is separated from the flavoring particulate after a predetermined brewing period.